Strike like a Warrior
by TheMagicalYoshi
Summary: All Gijinkas have lived peacefully with one another ever since any one could remember, until one day Arceus receives a prophecy that sets him on one goal: Eliminate the Dragon Type Pokémon. Ari has become an orphan because of this, and has lived with her foster parents, Geki the Togekiss and Rose the Roserade, ever since. She is determined to kill Arceus and free the Dragon Types.
1. Prologue

Soft foot prints tread across the hard stone floors leading to the chamber the man was heading to.

"You have news for me, Uxie?" The man asked, his voice only barely touched with tiredness, though it was midnight.

"Important news, my Lord. A prophecy has come to me, and it effects your rule of the land," The woman in the room, Uxie, responded, becoming detectable to the eyes by turning from where she levitated. Her eyes began to glow as she recited the words that had come to her. "A descendant of those who best themselves will rise up with an army of their own and best the supreme ruler."

"What?" The man asked, unable to keep the shock from reaching his normally calm voice. "What does it mean, this gibberish of 'a descendant of those who best themselves'?" He could tell this meant trouble for him, and he needed to stop it.

"Besting someone could mean beating them, and the best way to beat them is to be Super Effective against them."

"Super Effective against themselves...Dragon Types..."

"Yes, that is what I feared, my Lord. A child of the Dragon Type will find an army of their own and steal the throne from you."

"You can't do this to us, Arceus! You have no right!" An enraged voice called from the pit he was caged in. This was Rayquaza.

"I have all right, I am king of all! Ruler, creator of this world!" The man from before, Arceus's, voice created a booming echo that rang to all the legendaries also imprisoned in the abyss. Many innocent souls were placed down there, for the word of a prophecy was to be prevented this way. The man turned, looking down upon his servant who floated next to him. "Come Mewtwo, I have a mission to fulfill. My Icicle plate, hand it to me." He held his hand out expectantly for the young man at his side to hand him the slab of cold stone.

"Yes, sire," Mewtwo mumbled, placing the stone in his master's hand. As soon as Arceus gripped the slab, it melted into his skin, turning his yellow crescent and hair an icy blue. He ignored the shouts of the imprisoned as he walked away, determination the only thing on his mind.

The woman's breath came in shallow pants as she ran through the forest, her sleeping young daughter clinging to her back. She knew she couldn't stop, she had to keep going, the fate of her and her child depended on it. She smirked. No, only her child's fate depended on her. She was going to die tonight, anyway.

She looked to her side where her mate ran with her; his pace faster than hers since she was carrying their child. She knew he would not be able to live with their child, either; they would both die tonight protecting their child. That was how it was to be.

"Let me carry her, we may be able to make it that way. Both of us." She looked back at her mate who had spoken, and nodded, preparing to hand the sleeping toddler off, when a chunk of ice flew through the air, just missing both of them. She veered to the left and kept going, until finally she stumbled and fell at the entrance of a town. Luck had been with her. She had gotten where she needed to.


	2. Chapter 1

"Ari, wake up dear, it's time for breakfast."

I flipped the page of the book I was reading and stuck a scrap piece of paper between the pages before closing the book and heading down the stairs. Of course, being the clumsy Gijinka I am, I tripped and fell down the rest of the way. Landing upright at the bottom of the stairs, I looked up at my mother-slash-aunt, who was suppressing a laugh as she always did when I fell down the stairs. Truthfully she wasn't my mother, or aunt, just the wife of my mother's best friend.

"Alright, Ari, come sit at the table for breakfast." I got up from where I sat on the floor and went to the table, bumping into things as I rubbed my eyes while I went. I sat down at my normal seat, a plate already in front of me, waiting to be covered with food.

Ms. Rose, as I always called her, came and placed some Oran berry pancakes onto my dish along with a few berries. I started gnawing on the berries, and Ms. Rose looked at me with a confused expression.

"I thought you'd be more excited," she said suddenly, and I cocked my head to the side. "Don't tell me you forgot. You're going to start training today with Geki." I swallowed the food in my mouth as my eyes widened.

"You're right!" I said joyfully, shoveling food into my mouth so I could get to training faster. As soon as I put the last bite into my mouth, I leaped out of my chair and ran out the door, stumbling as I went. Finally I arrived at the clearing Mr. Geki, my father-slash-uncle, had told me to come to, sticks jutting out of my hair and panting from the run.

"I see you're quite excited to get started, huh?" He asked me, laughter dancing in his eyes.

"Heh... You bet...'cha," I said between breathes.

"Well, you better be. Now, before we start, I must tell you something. Your mother, your real mother, had an odd case with her stats, one moon cycle she would be a speed demon, and the next she would be slower than a Shuckle, but have just a much defense. I'm not sure why, I suppose it has to do with her father being-" he was cut short as he dodged an oncoming ice ball. "Hey, watch where you're shooting stuff over there!" He looked into the woods to see who had been so careless in their training, only to be greeted by an ominous voice.

"Hee hee... sorry there," a soft voice, definitely female, echoed around the clearing, the source untraceable. "But you're going to stand in my way, aren't you? Oh well, I guess I'll just get rid of you now!" Suddenly Geki's eyes widened in shock, and he fell over, his back covered in Ice.

"Run... Ari..." He said in no more than a whisper, though I heard it loud and clear.

"Meh heh heh, he's down for the count, isn't he, little...girl?" I barely heard the last part of the attacker's words, I was already running. I ran and ran, luckily not tripping on roots as I went, and holding back tears. Geki was dead, he had to be. There was no reason fighting it.

I chanced a look back and saw my attacker. It was a Froslass, gliding along easily, not seeming to be tiring. I had to lose her, so when I came to a bush, I ran through it, but made a quick turn to the left, and rounded back in the opposite direction. I kept running, not sure how far she may be, or how much she had tired, but I knew I wasn't going to last much longer. I would have to find a hiding spot, or make it back to the village to stay alive. I decided to keep running, to run till I'll couldn't anymore, to run till I-

_Thump._

You know how I said I was thankful I hadn't tripped before? Well, I tripped. I didn't feel like getting up, I was already too tired to move. Maybe I could just lay there, maybe I could just-

And there the universe goes again, interrupting my listing.

I felt something go under my arms, right under my shoulder blades, and I was heaved upwards. I opened my eyes to see what was happening, and saw the landscape below. Great, now I was getting kidnapped.

"Huh?" I said as I noticed the ground below. _Far _below. I looked up at my captor, and gasped in surprise. He looked to be a boy of only fourteen; his orange hair was combed back, though leaving a spike-like thing on the top of his head. He wore a light yellow T-shirt, an orange jacket that matched his hair, and of course, wings, which were orange in back and green in front. I noticed that he was holding me up with his legs, not his arms like a normal person. This really unsettled me, which caused me to squirm.

"St-stop wiggling!" he said, his voice strained with the effort of holding me up. I just hung there, waiting and wondering. And then I started wailing.

"Shut up or they'll hear you!"

I continued to wail.

"Do you want to die?"

I continued.

"Oh my Rayquaza, just shut up!"

I stopped when he bonked me on the head. I was having fun that day.

"Why are you taking me away?" I said, catching my breath after wailing for a good two minutes.

"I'm saving you, and if you want to die, I suggest you shut up." I did as told and just waited for him to land. That was the day my whole life went Topsy-turvy.


	3. Chapter 2

I walked into the entrance of the cave, my shoes thumping against the stone floor. Nine years had passed since I was kidnapped, and I had settled in well. Yes, you heard me correctly, I had settled in well. I wasn't trying to run, because: one: My second father and everyone else in my old village were most likely slaughtered, and two: I was living with a group of Pokémon that were also hiding for their lives, the majority of the Dragon Types.

I readjusted the bag on my shoulder and kept walking. The cook was going to be ecstatic at the variety of berries I had gathered. Well, if she was still alive, that is.

As I walked, I named of all the different species of Dragon Types I passed; Druddingon, Zweilous, Flygon, Salamance, you named 'em, and they were there. Well, excluding the legendaries, all the Pokémon knew they were locked away somewhere deep in Arceus's castle.

Finally I had arrived at the cook's room, and I set the bag of berries onto the ground, wiping of the sweat  
I had just noticed off my forehead.

"Hey, Cook!" I called into the tunnel that was connected to the kitchen. Everyone called the cook just 'Cook', since her name was long or complicated, or something, no one really told me why. "Berry delivery!" I waited a little while longer till Cook came walking out of the tunnel, her white, fluffy Altaria wings folded behind her.

"Why thank you, Ari, dear, we were running low." She looked into the bag and a smile spread across her face. "My, you've even collected some Cornn berries, those will go wonderfully in some soup. Have a nice day!"

"You're welcome, and you too," I said as she gently heaved the sack onto her back and hovered above the ground, using her wings to help hold up the weight. I turned around and headed for mine and Drake's room, exhausted from the trip.

Drake was the Dragonite who 'kidnapped' me when I was seven, and he was twenty three, now. He tried to act like my father, but he was really more like a brother to me. I came to the familiar moss vines that marked the entrance to our 'house'.

"Knock, knock," I said, since I didn't feel like hitting my knuckles against the stone wall of the cave.

"Come on in, Ari," The deep-ish but kind voice of Drake called to me, and I ducked in through the hanging greenery. I flopped down in a chair near Drake's and waited for him to ask me some random questions. He always asked something, whether it was "How was your day?" to "Do you think it is possible for a level one to beat Arceus?". He was weird that way, but sometimes we had a good time pondering out of stuff like that. He put his book down, pulled of his reading glasses, and asked me a question, as usual.

"How was collecting today?" He asked, using a funky way to say stuff, like always. He had really changed from the jerk face he was when he was fourteen.

"Fine, I got a whole sack full today, and Cook was rather happy." He nodded his head, taking in my answer for some reason.

"What kind of Pokémon has died today, do you think?" And there you go, the weird question.

"Uh... Maybe a Magikarp? They're normally really clumsy, and not too good of fighters." Again, he just nodded his head, taking in my answer. We sat there like that for a few moments, and we probably would have stayed like that longer, if Erik the Druddingon hadn't burst in.

"Dr-drake!" He yelled, his voice full of urgency. "E-ella the Axew and Caleb the Bagon we're hurt when out in the meadow! We're not sure by who, but they're extremely hurt!" Drake stood up quickly, his glasses and book tumbling to the ground.

"Lead me there. Ari, stay here." He grabbed a nearby blanket and as he gestured for me to stay.

"Wha- why?" I jumped out of my seat at his command.

"Just stay here, please."

"Fine," I said, sitting down in my seat and crossing my legs. "But you're lucky that I'm listening to you now."

"Thank you." He ran off with Erik, not saying another word. As soon as he left, I headed to the hospital area and waited for them to return. It was a suspenseful ten minutes, waiting and wondering how badly everything was going. Finally they ran in, Cook following them.

"Set them down on one of the beds," Cook said, her voice cracking with worry. Erik and Drake set the make shift stretcher carrying the injured Axew and Bagon down. They were cut and bruised, frosted and bleeding. Cook got to work on them immediately.

The sun had finally set, and I was still sitting in the hospital. Ella's even and deep breathes could be heard nearby. Caleb's would never be heard again.

I never really knew him, just that Caleb had been brought here as an orphan, too, though he had a harder time getting used to others. I had heard he had been shy and timid, trying to go unnoticed through the day, and crying himself to sleep at night. Finally he met Ella, and he got to be a little more used to others, not sitting in the shadows all day, but playing outside. Sure he still hid behind her when they walked around the caverns, but at least he was there.

I single tear slid down my face and splattered on the stone floor. I already knew of only one Gijinka who had a cold enough heart to kill a child, and that was Arceus. Another tear ran down my face, following the other one and shattering as it hit the floor. I thought about my parents, both killed by Arceus, Geki, and all the other Dragon Types or any other Types he had killed. And for what reason, no one knew. One day he just up and decided to murder Dragon Types. Tears continued to follow one another down my cheeks, silently mourning the lives lost because of Arceus; the lives of warriors who fought to keep themselves alive.

I imagined myself as a warrior like that, standing upon a hill in armor, staring hatefully upon Arceus as he commanded his forces that raged below him. Of course, I would have my own forces countering them, fighting for everyone. I smiled at the thought of that. Too bad it could never happen.

Or could it?

I practically leaped out of my seat when I thought of that. It was possible, yes possible, I would need help, and lots of it. The Dragon Types alone wouldn't be enough, so I would need help from others. And what would the easiest way to get a full army together? Recruit the legendaries. They were our gods, the ones we worshiped and lived under, if they joined me, all their followers would join my army, and every legendary away from Arceus's arsenal, is all the better.

I ran out of the hospital and back to my little alcove, glad that Drake was helping with digging Caleb's grave so he wouldn't question me. I found an old back pack and started shoveling supplies into it; pairs of my almost identical clothes (most Gijinkas wore outfits that reflected what Pokémon they are), some random first aid kit I had lying around, other useful items. I had even thrown some random book from the pile of Drake's favorites that he wanted me to read. I figured I wouldn't need to bring food, I could always pick berries along the way.

Quickly, I headed out of my alcove and towards the entrance. In my mind, I was deciding if I should say good bye, or leave a note and go. I was so lost in thought, that I didn't notice Drake until I bumped into him.

"What's with the bag, Ari?" I shifted the sack-like back pack on my shoulder awkwardly. I was considering if I should tell him what I was doing, or lie my way out.

"I'm... leaving...On a journey." Well, I wasn't lying yet.

"Why? There's not much out there other than death for us Dragon Types." I sighed. He was going to make this hard on me.

"Exactly."

"Exactly? No... A-Ari, don't tell me..."

"No! I mean... I'm going to stop Arceus. I'm going to free us, so we can actually live, and not get ambushed when we do little things like go outside to play."

"Ari, this is nonsense. Arceus is ruler of everyone, he has too many troops; it just won't work! What can one Garchomp do against thousands of Gijinkas, many of them one's who know Ice Type moves?"

"Who said I was alone? The whole point of my journey is to convince the legendaries to become my ally, and to take over Arceus in the end. It's a do it or bust type of thing."

"No."

"What?"

"No. I said no, as in you're not going to go on this journey and get yourself killed." I crossed my arms. Oh, so he's going to play it that way.

"Too bad."

"What?"

"I said too bad, as in nothing you can say will stop me. I told you before that one of these days I wasn't going to do what you say, and I guess that day is today." I looked up at his face, my own locked in an expression hat told him I wasn't going to budge. He sighed, and put his chin on my head and his arms around me.

"Ari, I've tried to be a father to you ever since I brought you here, but you're more than that to me. You're like my sister, and I don't want to lose you, too." He let go of me, and put his hand on my head as if I was much younger. "So stay safe, and come back if stuff just doesn't work, okay?" I nodded my head at him. That was manageable. Thank Rayquaza he didn't fight harder.

Before he could start walking away, I stood on my toes and kissed him on the cheek. "See you when I get back, 'bro'" I put air quotes around 'bro', while heavily coating it with sarcasm.

"Yeah, you better come back, 'sis'." I smiled up at him, and began walking away, ready for my journey. "Wait, Ari, one more thing." I stop and turn back at him, hoping he's not going to try and make me feel guilty about leaving. "Not all legendaries follow Arceus. You'll want to try and recruit them, first. I heard that Kyogre and Groudon are rather annoyed at Arceus for imprisoning Rayquaza." He smiled at me, and I made sure to remember that. "Now get out of my sight!" he waved his arms jokingly, motioning me away. I turned to leave, grinning.

I was going to defeat Arceus, and nothing was going to stop me.


	4. Chapter 3

I have been walking for a day already, and I have been bored all the way. Sure, I had crossed the 'Dragon Type's border' and was seeing things I had never seen before, but trees start to look the same after ten minutes. Only one thing had caught my interest, and that was a marsh I had past. I had never seen one before, and as a bonus, I also saw a feral Pokémon for the first time (Pst, it was a Stunfisk. I stepped on it at first because I didn't see it in the mud, but don't worry, it couldn't hurt me with its Electric type moves).

Either way, I was bored, nervous, and a tad bit confused. I knew the territory I was in, and that was the no-man's land on the edge of Ho-oh's territory, but I didn't know how for it was to Ho-oh's land, how I would convince Ho-oh, or what I would do if they were hostile. It seemed like nothing could possibly work for me, and I would end up having to wing it. I sighed and slouched as I walked. It was like Arceus knew exactly what I was planning.

I was thinking so hard, that I didn't notice the sign post until I caught my foot on it and tripped.

"Ow..." I moaned as I picked myself up off of the ground and dusted off my pants. I looked at the sign post, which read:

"Burnsand, 1/2 mile, home of the glass blowing Fire Types

Make sure to visit the famous Slugma Inn

the best place to get Lava Cookies!

Ho-oh's castle, fourteen miles"

Again, I sighed. Already, I had walked away the day, and I needed to rest up. I just wasn't sure if I should lodge at the Inn, or sleep in a tree. The latter sounded uncomfortable and cold, so it all comes down to whether they have a room or not. Finally, after about twenty minute trekking, I made to Burnsand.

What made me notice I had gotten close to the town was the change in temperature. It seemed like there was a hot, humid bubble that surrounded the city; at sometimes I even saw large columns of steam rising from certain places of the city. Fire Types wove aimlessly around the town, and sometimes I would see Gijinkas of other types; probably here to deliver supplies that they specialize in.

Located conveniently in the center of town was the Inn. It looked well-built and cozy, tall and able to fit plenty. I walked in through the door which didn't even seem to have a lock on it, and went up to the service desk.

"Excuse me, are there any rooms left?" The clerk who was there looked up at me from the book she was reading and put it aside. By the clothes she was wearing, she was most likely Pansear.

"Oh, um, uh... yeah, here." She pulled a key out of a drawer and handed it to me. "Second floor, third door on your left. stairs are to your right." She gestured with her hand as she told me the directions, to which I just nodded in agreement to. Following her directions, I went up the stairs to the second floor, and down the hall to my room.

The first thing I noticed when I got onto the second floor was that it was much cooler here. I could see the condensation clinging to the walls, and that put me on edge due to the fact that heat rises. I arrived at my room and opened the door to see a girl sitting on the floor, a blanket draped around her shoulders and a sheet of ice around her. An Ice Type. I froze (no pun intended) and looked at her, wondering if I was somehow set up. She had her eyes closed in concentration, so maybe I could leave without being noticed. But just to my luck, she let out a gust of cold air, dropping the temperature quite a bit, and making my teeth chatter audible. Her eyes snap open, and she sees me in the door way.

"Oh... sorry." She gets up off of the ground and comes towards me. Closer up, she looks about six or seven, and I can identify that she's a Snorunt. "I was just cooling this floor, they didn't tell me someone was using this room. If you don't mind, could you leave your door open to let the air circulate? You'll only need to do that for about half an hour. I have to go cool the other floors." She just slips out beside me and walks down the hall. I watch her descend the stairs, and let out a sigh of relief. So they weren't out to get me... yet.

I walked in side, took my shoes off, and flopped down on the bed, not changing into pajamas, since I didn't bother bringing them. I closed my eyes and fell into darkness almost instantly.

The sunlight fell through the window, hitting my face and awakening me. I had slept well, a long, dreamless slumber which had me refreshed and ready for a day of walking. After a quick shower and change of clothes, I headed out of the room, munching a Pinap berry, the room key in hand. I leave the room key on the desk and keep going. It was nice to live in a currency-free world, where everyone just helped each other out (well, except for Arceus).

I walked out of the town happy that I had no trouble. I had been scared that every Gijinka in town would be trying to hold me to the ground and contacting Arceus to come and execute me himself. There was two things that this meant; one, I'm alive. Two, Ho-oh most likely didn't support Arceus. Both of these things had my hopes up, and felt I could take on Arceus right now if I wanted to, though I knew I couldn't. I needed allies for a reason, and that was so they could take on all Arceus's forces while I had a one on one match with Arceus.

I walked for about 3 and a half hours, until finally I was stopped by someone.

"Hey, what are you doing on the border of Lord Ho-oh's castle?" I was stopped by a boy about my age. His hair was yellow, with the tips red. He had a cream shirt with a greener turquoise-y back, and shorts that matches, though the back was flame colored.

"I need to speak with your lord. I would like to make an alliance with him."

"Okay, I'll take you there. Follow me." He gestured for me to follow him as he stared walking. By his clothing, I could tell he was a Quilava. "I'm Ryan, though some people call me Ryando, Ryando Blondo. I'm a Quilava."

"My name's Ari. I'm a Garchomp." He turned around and looked at me, his eyes wide.

"No way! You're a Dragon Type?"

Oh crap, what have I done?!


	5. Chapter 4

He knows.

He knows Garchomps were Dragon Types, I'm so stupid! He knows I was a Dragon Type. He knows, which means he knows that Arceus is hunting them down. He knows, he knows, he knows!

"That's so cool!" He knows it's so cool! Wait, what? "You're like, a rogue to everyone, aren't you? That just seems... epic." That took an unexpected turn. I just stood there, dumbfounded, as Ryan begins to walk away. Finally, I snap back to reality, and catch up to him.

"Uh, yeah, I guess." I begin laughing awkwardly and rub the back of my head, awkwardly breaking the awkwardness for me even more awkwardly. Man, I can make things awkward at times. It seems he could tell of my awkwardness, so he piped up to break it.

"It's only about a three minute walk to Lord Ho-oh's castle. See, you can see it now that the trees have cleared." He was right. Now that we were out of the trees, I could see Ho-oh's castle rising up majestically.

And now the three minutes were up, and I was standing in front of the ginormous castle. It was so exquisitely made, the towers were well formed into the shapes of pillars of flames, and the gate looked so much like real fire...

"Don't touch that!" Ryan urgently shouted. I pulled back the hand I was using to touch the gate, now realizing the heat emanating from the barrier. "Those are real flames, we use them to make an easy barrier that only Fire Types can pass through. Pretty cool, huh? Wait here, I'll go in and turn some of the flames off." He simply walked right through, not seeming to notice the heat, or even any pain, as he passed. I waited for a few seconds, and a little section of flames extinguished. I walked right through, and the flames came up behind me, making me glad that I had already passed. Ryan came bounding around the corner, and he leads me on.

"You picked a perfect time to come. Lord Ho-oh normally returns around this time, so you'll be able to have an audience with him, most likely. Really, it depends on whether or not someone else is having an audience at the same time. Come on, I'll show you to his throne room," Ryan said, pulling me along to the throne room.

He ushered me through the castle, which was just as royal as the outside. The whole place had a flame-y look, the walls and carpet were a blood red, and paintings upon the wall had a golden frame the compliment the walls. Various burnt orange stands were scattered sparsely around the halls, adding to the flame look. Doors were a mahogany color, complete with a gold knocker, knob, and name plate describing something about who owned, or what was in the room. Finally, we were standing in front of two chocolate brown doors, with flame patterns swirling around on it. I stared at it in awe, until Ryan pushed it open.

"Lord Ho-oh, I have someone who would like to have an audience with you." Ryan bowed low, his eyes never connecting with Ho-oh's. He came up from his bow, and I traced his eyes to the hem of Ho-oh's plush throne, and he shuddered. It only lasted a second, but I could tell the up-beat Quilava beside me was afraid.

"Ryan, a novice Quilava, the one who accepts that idiot nickname from his 'friends'," Ho-oh spoke, and his voice was far from the majestic, superior voice I imagined. He spoke in a higher pitched tone, his voice seeming to stretch out and make you shudder from the inside, a voice that made me want to punch him out. "You've interrupted me, very rudely, if I may add, when I was trying to have some peace and tranquility. do you not know how to knock?" Ryan's eyes dropped, and his fingers twitched with the seam of his shirt. He seemed to be tortured just being here, helping me in my objective.

"Lord Ho-oh, I have a compromise for you," I said, saving Ryan from the burning attention of Ho-oh, but putting it on me. I dipped down low in a bow, using this action to hide my own shudder. This guy gave me the creeps and I wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"A peasant," Ho-oh sniffed disdainfully. His head snapped towards me, it had wandered back towards Ryan. "State your name and business with me." I started freezing up, his gave seeming to freeze my mind from working.

"M-my name is Ari, and I come with a compromise for you-"

"Don't repeat yourself, and address me. Correctly." Sheesh, strict much?

"I'm sorry, my Lord Ho-oh. I-"

"You are not a follower of me. Therefore I am 'Lord Ho-oh' to you, not, 'your Lord Ho-oh'"

"My sincerest apologies, Lord Ho-oh. I am sorry to waste your time with my buffoonery. But as I've been saying, I would like to enlist you as a General, a General in my war with Arceus." Since I was still in my low sweeping bow, I scrunched up my face in an expecting of the worst. I had no clue how this would go, and I expected it to end badly. But there was no turning back now.

"War with Arceus, you say? Come out of your bow and look me in the eye, girl." I winced at the thought of having to stare into his gaze for the rest of the conversation, but I did it any ways. "Now tell me, what have you planned? Why do you need my help?" I gulped, trying to get the words to come to me.

"As you must know, being a Lord as high as you are, you must know of how for the fourteen years, Arceus has been mass murdering Dragon Types for who knows why. But I am on a quest to stop him, and therefore, I need an army to hold off Arceus's forces while I, and a few selected Generals, will dethrone Arceus, and of course we will need a new ruler. Someone who's strong, strategic, brave, one who has all the makings of a great ruler... And I may have already found one." I whispered the last part, quiet enough so that he thought I was only thinking aloud to myself, though loud enough so he would hear.

He pondered upon my words for a moment, flicking out his fiery wings as he most likely was imagining himself at the throne. Ho-oh realized we could see him striking his 'dashing' poses, and spoke again.

"I shall ponder your words. Ryan, lead this girl to a room for the meantime. I will call you upon my decision. Now, leave my presence, your blueness is disrupting my fiery color scheme." He made a sound that I caught as an 'Ulk', and Ryan bowed and backed away. I copied him, trying to put as much respect into it. As I went through the doors, I saw Ho-oh sigh, probably because his 'precious color scheme' was restored.

"Thanks for not taking too long chatting Lord Ho-oh up. He unnerves me so much for some reason." I looked at him, and he no longer had that fearing glint in his eyes.

"Why do you stay?"

"Wha?"

"Why do you keep following Ho-oh, I saw the fear in your eyes when he looked at you. And he seemed like he hated your guts."

"Oh. That. Well, I do think he hates me, he hates a lot of people, but it's because he's the best out of the rest. Entei and Victini are always abroad, and Moltes... He just is never there, really. Lord Ho-oh at least stays here and looks over us, he only is gone on the rare occasion when someone summons him. Practically, I'm stuck with him. Now come on, we better get to dinner, it's best to get it now before all the hustle of everyone else getting food. Let's hurry so we can miss the others who come earlier." He grabbed my wrist and we ran through the halls, turning so much that I swear we got lost at one point, though we did make it to the cafeteria before long. It was a nice, clean look, the walls a light mahogany, and the tiled floors a navy blue, and the tables were all a burnt orange, like the ones outside.

"Go ahead and just grab some food from over here." He leads me over to long salad bars full or different foods, though most of it was uncooked meat. Not feeling overly hungry for raw meat, I just grabbed some berries, which I believed were Bluk and Razz. Ryan loaded his plate full of raw meat, which I guess they ate normally. He led me back to the table, grabbing a metal fork along the way. I watched him stick the fork into the meat, and he held it up to his mouth, and blew some light embers onto it. He roasted it for a second, and ate it. Seeing my confusion, he answered my unasked question.

" A lot of Fire Types are very picky about how their food is cooked, so we all self-cook our meat and stuff to help out the cooks. Well, this way, we don't even need cooks, just collectors, hunters, people like that." He stuck his fork back into the meat and spewed fire this time, completely burning it to a crisp. He shrugged, and stuffed it into his mouth. Still, I looked at him oddly, seeing that he didn't seem disgusted about eating burnt meat. "What, you want me to roast your berries for you?" I looked down at my plate. Seeming about how he annihilated the last strip of meat with fire, I think I'm good.

"No, no, just... Never mind." I took a bite out of a Bluk berry, making an excuse to why I wouldn't continue.

"Eh, okay. But don't take too long eating, we want to get out of here before everyone else comes here." I nodded in response, and finished up the Bluk berry. We ate in silence, I finished before he did, though he put his fork onto his plate shortly after. "Come on, we put the plates over here." He led me over to an empty sink, and he put our dishes in. "You're probably tired after a day of traveling, so I'll find you a room. Besides, you may be staying here a while, Lord Ho-oh normally takes a while to decide something, so you'll be here awhile, and maybe we can train together a bit." I nodded in response, and followed him as he wound his way through the castle. "Here's your room, mine is exactly above you. Need anything, just ask. Welp, I guess I'll hit the sack, too. See ya tomorrow, Ari."

"Yeah, you too, Blondo." I cracked a smile as I said his name, internally laughing. He, too, smiled, waving his hand in a farewell gesture, turning and walking away. I opened my room and walked in, tossed my backpack into a chair and plopped down upon the bed. I squirmed under the covers and closed my eyes, even though it was only six thirty, or something. Well, you know the saying: early to bed, early to rise, makes a Manky get a lot of money, or something. I didn't have much time to think about before I drifted off to unconsciousness.


	6. Chapter 5

I woke to the sound of knocking on my door.

"Yo, Ari, wake up so we can train!" I could identify this to be Ryan's voice. "It's nine thirty, Sleepy, get up!" I groaned as I pushed myself up, my joints popping after a long night's sleep.

"Umf... Coming!" I called to him as I stretched out the rest of my muscles. I stumbled to the door and threw it open, looking at Ryan's amused face, most likely and what my hair looked like. Eh, it would flatten itself out later.

"Ready?" he asked, trying to wipe the smile off his face.

"Yu'huh," I answered, his smile attaching itself to my face. He beckoned me to follow, and lead me through the maze of Ho-oh's castle. He ushered me out of the castle, and to an area that was a simple area of packed down dirt. A dueling area.

"So, I thought the best way to train would be to simply duel... even though I'm going to lose. Rules of the battle, punches and kicks are allowed, along with moves, of course. No fatal blows, and that counts along with hits that with harshly injure your opponent. Start off with on heel touching the white outline, and to begin we will run in at each other, use a physical contact move, and jump back. You are not allowed to use a range move, nor a status move on the Run-in, and once we've jumped back, the battle has truly begun. Place on heel upon the white line and lower your head to start. Keep your head lowered and do not raise it until I say go. I will count down from three, then say go, and once I've said that, you may commence the Run-in. Got all that?" I mentally run through it all again, making sure I understood all the Run-in stuff before nodding. "Then let's begin." He headed over to his corner and lowered his head, the pose he struck reminded me of a true warrior, calm and at peace though they are about to risk their lives. I headed over to my side, and tried to feel like that, honorable, and ready. He must have looked up and saw that I was ready, because he started speaking.

"We are about to commence the skirmish match between Ari the Garchomp and Ryan the Quilava. It will be a match using standard rules. It shall begin in three... two... one... go!" Both of our heads flung up and we dashed to the center. Being a Garchomp, my speed was faster, and I crossed the middle before Ryan did. With faster speed comes faster reflexes, meaning I had the first strike. I jumped and kicked off of him, pushing him away while I back flipped instead. As he recovered from skidding, I used the time to start a Dig, hiding myself from view.

I sat in wait at the bottom of my tunnel, listening to Ryan's confused footsteps. Digging upward, I latched onto the sides of the tunnel I had just created, hauling myself up by my digging claws that I could make come out of my hands as climbing spikes. As predicted, I could hear Ryan jumping down my tunnel and running to the end. I lashed out upward, holding myself up with my legs and back. In no time I broke through the top of the soil and hoisted myself out, just as Ryan made it to the end.

Perfect, I thought, and played my next move. I surged the power with in me, exerting it into the earth below, creating the powerful Earthquake. Ground rumbling below me, I listened to Ryan's raged yelp at the damage he must be taking. I grinned, imaging the damage I was doing. Super Effective equals two times the damage, plus another two times for him being underground, and on top of that a times one point five for the same time move, meaning my move did six times the damage. Not only was Ryan greatly weakened, he was also stuck in the tunnel, he would be unable to climb up the vertical slopes of the tunnel exit and entrances.

Though what happened next surprised me.

Suddenly something underground rammed upward into me, tossing me upwards and throwing me back onto the ground. As I tried to recuperate from the tossing, Ryan closed in on me, sending a glowing fist my way, which I could identify as a Reversal. Sadly, I wasn't able to dodge, and it hit me right in the chest, knocking the breath out of me and threatening stars. I wondered how he hadn't fainted, and I noticed a strip of red and orange fabric sticking out of his pocket. A focus sash, tricky, tricky. It wasn't glowing, so it meant one thing: He only had one HP left, just like me. Whoever hit their opponent next would be the winner, and I was determined not to lose.

I jumped up to my feet, even though I had taken quite a lot of damage from his Reversal. Summoning energy from the water vapor around me, I created I giant wave of water below me, and headed towards Ryan, whose face was paler than a Castform at the oncoming attack. He tried to run sideways and escape the tide, though he wasn't fast enough. I sailed clean over him and landed on the other side, the water from the wave either sinking deep into the ground, or returning to the air. Looking backwards, I saw Ryan lying face down on the ground, fainted. I walked over to him, and he got off the ground.

"That was awesome!" He exclaimed, shaking his head like a wet feral Poochyena. "I never thought a battle could be so quick, yet tense! And you really surprised me with that Surf. I never thought a Ground and Dragon Type could use that." He shook his head, admiring our brief duel.

"Well, you surprised me with that Dig of yours," I complemented him. "I thought you were stuck in my hole until you popped out like a feral Furret."

"Heheh... Thanks... Well, I bet you're probably hungry after our battle, seeming as you had no breakfast, but don't worry. I brought some Tamato and Lum berries for you. There're also a few Oran berries, to heal us up. I stashed it over here." He led me over to a small cluster of gardens, and pulled a basket out from a natural pocket the roots created. Pulling out an Oran berry, he popped it into his mouth and handed the basket to me "Hold this, I'm going to go get something, stay here." He dashed off and I lay back against the tree, munching idly upon one of the berries. After I had finished off most of the berries, Ryan had come back, a winged-Gijinka following.

"Ari, since you beat me so quickly in the last match, I thought you might like to battle this guy." He gestured to the man besides him. The man was rather tall, a good head taller than Ryan, and he had orange hair that came back into two backwards horns. He also wore a cream shirt and an orange jacket, orange and cream pants, and he also had wings that were orange on back and teal in the front, which made him look like Drake, though I was confident that he was a Charizard..

"Aye, so yer the lassie who defeated Ryando so quickly, eh? How's about a match against me if yer up to it? By the way, my name is Styer, son o' the great Pirate lass Melcora the Rapidash, also known as the flame o' the sea." He looked off into the distance before beginning a story about his mother's adventures. By then Ryan had sidled up to me.

"He's very fond of his mother's title," he whispered into my ear. "A lot of times he'll ask you if you want to hear a great tale of his mother. Never say no. If you do, he'll never shut up, and he'll make sure you stay to hear all of it. If you say yes, he'll get submerged into his story quickly, and you can walk away without him noticing. I once had to sit through a three hour long marathon of sea stories because I said no once." He shook his head, then yelled to Styer, who was currently reenacting a sword-fighting scene. "Hey! Styer! What about the battle?" Styer looked away from the 'enemy' he was fighting, and stared confused at Ryan for a second before realization hit him.

"Er, ah, yes! Now, Ryando, be a good lad and do the tradition thing of Ho-oh's castle for us, will ye?" Without waiting for a reply, he stood with his left heel touching the white line and head hanging across from me. I got up and copied Styer, letting my head hang. Sighing first, I heard Ryan announce our battle.

"This is a match between Styer and Ari, yadda yadda yadda, go." I started off a little late, not expecting Ryan to not do the whole speech-thing. Ready to repeat what I did last match, I dashed to the middle, ready to spring. Crossing the middle before Styer, I bunched my muscles, ready for the leap, but immediately release them, noticing him jump up. Still running, I skidded to a halt, though too late. Styer slammed his weight into me from above, knocking me down. I struggled to quickly get up, though from the corner of my eye, I saw Styer charging at me, Dragon Claw at the ready.

I only just was able to counter his attack, allowing the instinctive accuracy of Aerial Ace to clash with the surging power of Dragon Claw. Using the situation to my advantage, I struck out at him, my digging claws returning in a Dragon Claw of my own. Styer staggered at the blow, allowing me to get back upon my feat. Trying to get an advantage, I summoned all the water in the atmosphere around me, turning it into another Surf. Smugly, I advanced at him, feeling that this attack would deliver major damage to him. But the next thing that happened was unexpected.

As I charged at him, he jumped into the air, and soared over to me, revealing a lithe, purple tail attached so him, a Dragon Tail. He spun in air, whacking me with the attack, and knocking me off of the wave. One moment I was falling off the tide, the next moment Styer was helping me up off the ground.

"Ha harr! Seems I be the winner of this match, aye, lassie?" Styer said, striking a victory pose. "As a runner up prize, I have information for you. Lord Ho-oh wants to be seeing you."


	7. Chapter 6

I couldn't believe it.

The time was now, the time to see if I was closer to defeating Arceus, or if I was set back farther because of time loss. I had a sickened feeling in my stomach, a mixture of excitement and the fear of failure, swirling about in my stomach.

"Come on!" Ryan suddenly shouted, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the throne room, shepherding me through doorways and twisting hallways, right up to the large, majestic doors. I was practically limp, my legs trying to refuse my will to stand. Ryan looked at me, and smiled, a warming smile of confidence. I nodded my head to him, and we both walked inside, falling under the tortuous gaze of Ho-oh.

"It seems, you took your time, didn't you?" Ho-oh asked, staring down upon us with his head tipped back. I just lowered my head respectfully and yet ashamed. I didn't want to mess anything up and tick him off so he definitely says no. "I guess that doesn't matter, you're here now. Girl, look me in the eye, I shall talk to you." My head snapped upwards and I stared him strait in the eye, gazing past the solid spheres of hatred he had for eyeballs. Failing to keep a confident air, my legs wobbled ever so slightly beneath me. "You have recruited me, and I have one answer for you; yes. But only on one condition. I want mostly free reign, I am fine with suggestions, but I will not take orders from anyone else, do you hear?"

My response was ever so shaky, though no longer from the tension that Ho-oh created, but from the excitement and happiness of success. "Of course, nothing lower than that, your Majesty!" I bowed down to him, my arm twitching in miniature fist pump.

"Now I suggest, Ryan, you take this girl outside, she is shivering ever so much in my...glorious presence."

"Yes, my Lord, come along, Ari," Ryan responded, his voice Shuckle-solid. I followed him out, just catching Ho-oh say "feel free to go home". As the heavy, brown doors shut behind him, Ryan turned to me.

"I guess you're leaving now," He said, his tone saddened. "Well, at least we'll be able to see each other when Lord Ho-oh leads us to battle, right, buddy?" He stuck his fist out in front of me.

Smiling, I responded. "Right, buddy." I stuck my fist out and bumped his, sealing our buddy-ism.

"Now come on, I'll lead you out. We don't want you to waste all day trying to leave." For the last time, I followed him through the twisting, maze-like hallways. When we entered the outsides, it was rather shadowy.

"Hey, Ari, look, it's Moltres!" Ryan exclaimed, thrusting his finger upwards. I followed his sight upwards just in time to see Moltres spewing fire at me.


End file.
